All kicked off today with a fine England win. Catch of the tournament might also already have been settled by Ben Stokes…wow!
This has to be the best prepared, most versatile and talented England team ever at a World Cup so hope they deliver to their potential and ranking. Here is hoping for good weather, big crowds and great cricket whatever the outcome.
I have tickets for NZ vs SA in a couple of weeks, my only success in the ballot, but at least I also got some for the Ashes in August.
Anyone else interested? If it was footie we’d have had fourteen pages of posts by now!
I was worried England were 40 or so short but the bowlers (especially Archer) did the business, supported by some excellent fielding. Highlights on C4 late-on tonight for non-SKY viewers.
Ye olde trick of opening with a spinner yielded some benefits for SA. I wonder how many more teams will do this - will the WI get a dose of this as Gayle doesn’t normally start well with no pace on the ball.
Wonderful opening game. I thought we a few runs short, but then I remembered we have Eoin Morgan and he rarely gets things wrong. We beat a very good South African side by over 100 runs: I thought we’d win, but never by that kind of margin.
There are no easy matches in the World Cup, but we have a great chance this time.
I’ve tickets for England vs Windies, New Zealand, Sri Lanka and hopefully to see England in final. There are still a few tickets left if you try then you may be lucky. I and few friends just kept trying over and over. I’ll watch the rest on Sky. It is great shame it’s not on Freeview so more people can watch this great tournament.
Wonderful bowling from Jofra, great catch by Ben and superb batting by Jason, Joe, Eoin and Ben. Great to hear the cheer Amla got when returning after retiring hurt and impressive knock by de Kock.
Looking forward to Windies vs Pakistan and Christopher Henry Gayle.
Amla looked like he got a really bad knock when you watch the replay and it took some courage to return especially to a losing cause. I note Archer gave him a nice gentle long hop when he came back in…not.
S Africa have some class players but seem to lack strength in depth. What impresses me with England now is that if one or two batsmen fail then there are 2, 3 or 4 others that can and do step up and win matches. That Stokes catch gets better each time I see it; hand twisted round, falling over and I’m not even sure he is looking!
India are going to be good, W indies too but I have a sneaking feeling that NZ may be the surprise of the tournament. Not sure Aussies have quite what it takes, and lets be honest it is a bit harder to cheat in ODI cricket… (sorry, could not resist)
What impressed me was the pitch offered a tad of turn every now and again which kept the batters wary, plus it seemed to be slower/less even-paced than some of the flat decks they’ve played on of late. It wasn’t just a case of opening the shoulders and wallop. In my view, even in ODIs, there should be a mental challenge to the game in assessing the pitch and conditions and adapting one’s game to these, not just a physical heave-ho one.
I just wish they didn’t have to reduce the playing areas by so much. I wonder what the spread-betters are offering on the number of all-run 3’s (sans any buzzers) in the competition - 5/7?
Agree with all the comments made. We need pitches that give some help to the bowlers. The pitch at the oval did this without tilting the balance too far. It is also good to have 10 teams who are all capable of beating each other. I think it’ll be England, India, NZ and not sure who to pick for fourth semi-finalists.
Today’s match is not going as I expected. I’ll say no more as don’t want to spoil it for anybody watching highlights later.
WI versus Pakistan - poor Pakistan never knew what hit them on such a bouncy track and, to be fair, they didn’t get the greatest luck with some of the dismissals, whereas the WI batters flashed hard several times and avoided the fielders. If other wickets are like this the WI could be in contention and they bring such a enticing energy to the game (players and crowd). Watching Gayle bat with his ‘stand and deliver’ approach is great fun although maybe not for the purists.
Such a shame for the spectators though who basically watched an uncompetitive T20 game play out - and especially those who couldn’t get in early enough due to the ticket collection issues.
A big day for sport - English rugger final, Champions League and…looking forward to seeing the Aussies rolled-over by Afghanistan. I love seeing Rashid Khan bowling with his tail up. Could it be - sorry Pete
My money is on NZ and the Aussie’s tonight, it’ll be a long cold night for those of us down under. Fires on, steaks are cooking (yes on the BOQ) and the wines’ opened.
It’s a cold night here, first winter storm. Fires on, had Tintin with Rebecca, now trying to watch Marillion DVD and been told to read a story and then put headphones on…
Every game so far has been a thrashing. Aussie’s look on course to administer another. One day cricket is usually tighter than this. Early days yet, I suppose.
Impressed with Afghanistan from 5th division to World Cup in 10 years. Some of the fielding placements have not been ideal, but it is still great to see them playing at this level. Rashid Kahn is already well known for his performances at Sussex and always entertains.
Looks like both results will be as per the rankings with New Zealand and Australia looking impressive. It bodes well for the tournament.
